This description relates to a single device capable of providing selectively connectable capacitive elements for power factor correction.
In general, power factor can be considered a measure of efficiency as represented by the ratio of the average power available and the actual amount of power being used. For alternating current (AC) electrical systems such as electrical power systems, the power factor can be defined as the ratio of the real power flowing to a load, to the apparent power in the load. Real power is generally considered the capacity of the circuit for performing work in a particular time, and, apparent power is the product of the current and voltage of a circuit such as a load. This ratio is a dimensionless number and can be scaled over a particular numerical range (e.g., between −1 and 1). Due to energy stored in the load and returned to the source, due to a non-linear load, etc., the apparent power is typically greater than the real power.
In such electrical systems such as electrical power systems, a load with a low power factor draws more current than a load with a high power factor for the same amount of power being transferred. Correspondingly, higher currents associated with lower power factors can result in an increase is wasteful energy lost and a higher cost to industrial and commercial customers operating with low power factors.